Legend of the Twilight

.hack//Legend of the Twilight

Number of Episodes

12 + 1 Audio Drama

Opening Theme Song(s)

New World

Closing Theme Song(s)

Emerald Green

.hack//Legend of the Twilight (.hack//黄昏の腕輪伝説) is a 3 volume manga and 12 episode anime occurring 4 years after the end of .hack//Quarantine. The manga is canon, while the anime is non-canon. Both are almost the same near the beginning, but after the 1st volume of the manga and the first 4 episodes of the anime, the two branch off into two different storylines.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

Setting

Most of the series occurs in "The World" with scenes from the real world being shown only when needed.

Manga

Volume 1 of the Legend of the Twilight Manga

Story

The manga follows twins Rena and Shugo as they play The World using PCs based on the legendary players Kite and BlackRose. Little do they know that they are about to be a part of the same mystery as the legendary players themselves, as Aura entrusts the Twilight Bracelet to Shugo.

Together they encounter new friends Mireille, Ouka, and Hotaru, as well as Balmung, who has become an administrator for CC Corp. After spending a lot of time together, the party meets the mysterious girl Zefie. Zefie claims to be Aura's daughter and asks Shugo to take her home. Shugo agrees to this and is finally on a journey that can make him a hero.

Kamui, head of the Cobalt Knights, targets Shugo for malicous cheating and having an illegal item(the Bracelet) and associating with a Vagrant AI (Zefie). Shugo's party is soon suspended, but they manage to break free from "The World's" prison. They decide to stick together and see the quest through to the end. After several skirmishes with the Cobalt Knights, the party reaches Net Slum, where Balmung awaits.

Balmung, who disagreed with CC Corp's view of Aura as a threat, supported Shugo's party and was subsequently punished. However, Balmung logged in at his house and met Shugo's party at Net Slum to test Shugo's determination. Shugo managed to succeed in striking Balmung, passing his test. Balmung then told Shugo how to reach Aura, allowing him to return Zefie and learn why he was given the Bracelet.

Anime

Story

The first anime DVD.

Shugo and Rena, the main characters of Legend of the Twilight

The anime story follows a girl name Rena Kunisaki, who won a BlackRose-type avatar, and entered her brother, Shugo Kunisaki, in the same contest, who won a Kite-type avatar. The two of them decide that "The World" will be a good place for them to meet because their parents are divorced. The first area they visit is Δ Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field, where a Level 48 Armored Super Shogun appears and easily defeats Shugo. Shugo is then revived by Aura and is given the Twilight Bracelet. Balmung of the Azure Sky rescues Shugo's sister, but Shugo himself Data Drains the high level Data Bug. A Wavemaster named Mireille witnesses the event and defeats the rewritten monster. Balmung leaves and Shugo and Rena follow, leaving Mireille behind.

The following episodes focus on Shugo, Rena and Mireille meeting Komiyan III, Ouka, Hotaru, and Sanjuro. The party follows a distorted message to the area Δ Cursed Woodland Murderhouse, where Rena is defeated by a Data Bug and falls into a coma. The rest of the anime has Shugo and his party trying to find and revive Rena, while being tracked by the four hackers Michi, Daisuke, Katsuyuki and Hayato, and also being chased by the Cobalt Knights and their leader, Kamui.

Δ Dying Destroyer's Grave- Where Morti is discovered and the Cobalt Knights are sent into a coma. The Server is questionable because it was said to be in the new server Naval Monte but Shugo accessed it through Mac Anu.

Trivia

There are many titles for Legend of the Twilight, the most infamous being .hack//DUSK, which is a deliberate mistranslation by a fansub group, and has since been attached to Legend of the Twilight. The title .hack//DUSK was likely chosen for convenience, although purists suggest that fans refer to it as the more accurate "Udeden", short for Tasogare No Udewa Densetsu (the Japanese title), or "LotT."

At the end of the manga, several past .hack characters are shown still playing "The World", such as Subaru and Tsukasa. However, because "The World" is a video game and the manga is in black and white, the characters shown could have been players with the same character designs. Crim's saying Subaru has stopped playing in the .hack games lends credence to the possibility; however, she may have started playing again after Unison.

Some bonus material at the end of each volume of the manga shows what appears to be Azure Kite defeating Balmung. Text at the end of the third installment says, "On to G.U.!"

In the anime's intro, silhouettes of some characters can be seen, such as Tsukasa and Helba.

Although the first 4 episodes of the anime follow the same story as the manga, minus a few changes, the stories diverge greatly later on.

Tatsuya Hamazaki, the story-writer to Legend of the Twilight, also made the storylines of the anime version, the G.U. Games and G.U. Novels, and G.U.+.

In an update that occurred between the events of the .hack//Games and the manga, the maximum limit of people in a party was supposedly increased to 5.